I’m pleased to announce that Atomic Object is opening an office in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Unlike when we started our office in Detroit last year, we’re opening our doors in Ann Arbor with a small, but strong and diverse team of developers. Our acquisition of SRT Solutions positions us to be part of the vibrant technology and software ecosystem centered around Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan.

We’re operating out of the former SRT Solutions office at 5th and Washington in the heart of downtown (shown above — yeah, you could probably say we have a thing for old brick buildings…)

Who’s SRT Solutions?

For those of you who don’t know, SRT Solutions was a software development firm co-founded by Dianne Marsh and Bill Wagner in 1999. SRT has served a variety of clients including Domino’s, General Motors, AnnArbor.com, and Thompson Reuters. SRT was very strong in Microsoft technologies, in addition to doing mobile app development with Android and iOS. Bill Wagner is a Microsoft Regional Director, a not-so-common recognition from Microsoft that testifies to his experience and expertise.

Our shared philosophy of business, our attitude towards employees and clients, and our love of learning and technology made our companies a natural fit. My friendship with Dianne and our mutual respect both started and carried us through the somewhat complicated and lengthy process of an acquisition. Fresh from publishing a book on Scala, Dianne is now a Director of Engineering at Netflix.

I’m happy to help Dianne and Bill move successfully on to their next ventures, and to capitalize on their years of hard work and happy clients.

Why Acquisition?

Locally strong, small, autonomous, cooperating offices is an architecture that supports our “great not big” philosophy while allowing us to serve both our existing clients and to help new clients. I’m personally very excited by the vision of our company contributing to Michigan’s economy through our presence in the top three technology markets in the state. Software is increasingly the lever of innovation for companies and products of all sorts, and Atomic is on a long-term path to be a key player in Michigan’s economic success.

Press releases about acquisitions and mergers usually tout “synergies,” “economies of scale,” and “improved efficiency” as their rationale. We might see some of that, but it’s not why we made the effort or spent the money. What we’re really looking to do with our offices in Detroit and Ann Arbor is to capitalize on Atomic’s only significant intellectual property, namely, our model for a software product development consultancy.

I’ve always felt a moral imperative, if we can create value, to do so. Limiting the value we create because it makes our lives simpler or easier has never felt right to me. It’s taken some years to figure out how to square this imperative with our own interests and our company culture, but I think we’re on the right track with our multi-office approach. Extending our model to accommodate the inevitable changes necessary for multiple offices should make the next 10 years pretty interesting.

We’re delighted to welcome former SRTians (left to right) Mike Woelmer, Darrell Hawley,Anne Marsan, and Jeanette Head into the Atomic family.